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internship at fox news. go to foxnews.com/fncu. february 8 is the deadline. fabulous program. bill: it is huge opportunity. don't let this go by. we'll tell you more soon. martha: "happening now" starts right now. take it away, guys. jon: we will. brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: in including fallout from lance armstrong as the legend admits he used performance-enhancing drugs for years, something he denied for a long, long time. why he claim clean now. we'll dig deeper into that. the gun control debate sparking new controversy today over the president's plan to bypass congress and use executive orders to push his proposals through. a woman steal as commuter train, and derails and crashes into an apartment building. what was behind this bizarre hijacking. this is all happening now.

jenna: one of the biggest names in television revealing new details about one of the most kiss graced names in sports. we're glad you're with us, everybody. i'm jenna lee. jon: what a story. i'm jon scott. oprah winfrey says lance arm strong confessed to using performance enhandsing drugs during their sit-down. a 180 for the man who challenged anyone who questioned his integg grit. the u.s. anti-doping agency issued a skithing report last year accusing one of the world's best known athletes of masterminding a long running doping scheme. the cyclist, stripped of seven tour de france titles, abandoned by most of his sponsors and forced to leave the charity he founded. casey stiegel has details live for us from dallas. casey. >> reporter: this was 2 1/2 hour interview, can you believe that? so secret oprah's team did

not want to feed it back to chicago via satellite. instead the interview was physically flown to chicago. this was originally supposed to air on thursday nights, but we understand they got such good stuff, decided to run its entirety over the course of two nights, on thursday and friday on the oprah winfrey network. oprah and her staff being tight-lipped what armstrong specifically said. though a source close to the matter has said that he did confess to using these performance-enhancing drugs during his storied cycling career. winfrey appearing on cbs this morning and described how armstrong handled himself. listen. >> he did not come clean in the manner that i expected. it was surprising to me. i would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. >> reporter: now how is that

for a tease? prior to sitting down with oprah armstrong held a meeting with about 100 staff members at his live strong cancer charity in austin. he reportedly had a 20 minute talk expressing his regret but making no ad -- admissions to the staff there. apparently choking up at times. remember armstrong stepped down from the live strong board back in october in an effort to try to distance himself and his charity from some of this controversy. despite losing many of his endorsement deals, it is said lance armstrong is still worth about 100 million dollars. now of course, with his admission comes new questions about his legal status in terms of what's going to happen now, considering he lied under oath, remember, denying that he ever used any of these performance-enhancing drugs. so a whole lot more still expected to come out on this. no doubt the ratings are going to be huge thursday

and friday night, jon. jon: case sit question i have, a lot of people do, maybe you can't answer it, but why talk now? >> reporter: that is good question. a lot of legal analysts say, why are you doing this considering he has sued people for liable who accused him for doping in the past. he denied it. he lied under oath he used any of these drugs. so a lot of lawyers out there will tell you this is not too smart of him, whether it is just, he is trying to clear his conscience or what. we simply don't know. possibly he will answer that to oprah and we'll hear thursday or friday, jon. jon: casey stiegel in dallas, thanks, casey. coming up we'll talk more about armstrong's confession and the possible fallout for the cycling legend. we'll speak with sportscaster jim gray and we'll speak to psychologist keith ablow how armstrong could perpetuate a string of

lies before we move on. jenna: we have only one thing to confess today. i can only take one big confession. jon: i have had steroids after a surgery and i wasn't competing. >> we're clear and we'll move on with the story as we learn more about lance armstrong. we'll turn to the economy now. a new warning about the united states and our credit rating as the debt battle kicks into high gear. congress has just weeks to increase our debt ceiling. fitch, a leading credit ratings agency, says a repeat of the 2011 debt limit crisis would spark a formal review of our country's aaa rating. that could mean a downgrade by them. now you might remember, s&p, a different agency, already downgraded our country in 2011. that was the first time in our history that that happened. the president is taking a hard-line stand, issuing a warning of his own to the gop. >> we have to pay our bills.

congress has two choices here. we can act responsibly and pay america's bills. or they can act irresponsibly and put america through another economic crisis. but they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the american economy. jenna: republicans like congressman jason chaffetz blasting back against the president. >> i think the president was terribly irresponsible today. to say he will not talk about it because he is above it, but blame all of congress, in part congress helped create this problem but we are going to hear to solve this problem. i got elected to uphold the constitution and leave the country better than how we found it. we can't keep spending our kids inheritance. we can't keep spending the money. we don't have it. jenna: cheryl casone with the fox business network with more. go back to fitch, the ratings agency that made the statement. why did they come out and make the statement now? >> fitch was looking and listening to the same rhetoric that your viewers

just listened to. that is the problem with what is happening in washington. fitch coming out and saying this is direct quote, another delay like 2011 would be a detrimental that could be a downgrade. america is on review at this point. what they're saying they are closely watching to see if a deal can be made, from what we heard from the president yesterday when he came out in the final first term news conference is that he is not really ready to negotiate with anyone. that is the big problem. fitch has to watch that. as we get closer and closer to the deadline, we're just a few weeks away, here we are again, right after our new year's eve of watching all of this, markets on edge. fitch on edge. and they will have to react and they may react. if we can't pay our bills, if the situation deteriorates with the markets and again if they can't come to some type of deal, fitch will put us on a review, translation for we'll have to downgrade. jenna: with the fact we already did that once, we were downgraded by one rating agency, what would it mean for the economy,

markets, for all of us if another agency comes out to do the same thing? >> you mentioned 2011, jenna, markets went haywire. it was ugly. late summer 2007 ven when the downgrade happened by s&p. had a huge drop in the market. 20% drop in two seconds. we'll see the same type of situation play it unfortunately. there are a couple of things. think about creditors, vendors of the united states. think about social security checks. sympathy about government employees, all of that stops if there is no deal in place. most market participants, most analysts, economists believe they will come up with something, but it is the deal that is in place that is questionable, whether you're a rating agency, whether you are investor, whether you're somebody will look at the paycheck which most americans this week got a pretty rough, eye-opening look at their check. i guess it was last week, when they saw the big cut in the social security payroll tax. it was a jump. you have less money now. so many things are affected unfortunately. coming into february, here we are again going to be

with spending cuts going to kick in officially. all of this will affect unfortunately the markets. it will be a little rough. the economy is fragile. don't get a deal, jenna. you're looking at recession. fitch knows that. investors know that. we're watching it here at fox business. a little rough. jenna: all right. those are the stakes, recession or not. we'll watch this very closely over next couple weeks. cheryl, thank you. >> you bet. jon: after weeks of delay, secretary of state hillary clinton will testify on capitol hill about the benghazi attack on january 23rd. the secretary will face some tough questions from the house foreign affairs committee about the assault in september that left four americans dead including u.s. ambassador chris stevens. miss clinton was set you would to testify last month but she suffered a concussion falling during illness. italy suspends activity at its consulate. after one of the attacks on one of its diplomats. he was not hurt. defense secretary leon

panetta says the u.s. will not send ground troops to the western african nation of mali but it will provide intelligence and logistical support as france reports they are battling islamists who have seized part of the country. al qaeda doesn't pose a immediate threat to the u.s. but add that is their ultimate objective. to give you an idea what we're talking about, al qaeda militant groups control an area in mali, larger than the state of texas. >> reporter: greg palkot following the developments from london. greg. >> reporter: secretary panetta is in europe, portugal and spain. he is he will ising out more what the u.s. role will be with france dealing with islamists in africa. on the ground in mali here are the latest figures. 800 french ground troops going up to 2500 we're told today. they're running regular airstrikes with fighter jets and assault helicopters. the u.s. transport planes could be iced to get french troops down from france to africa. u.s. tanker planes could be

used to refuel those french jets and intelligence from spy satellites and drones from the u.s. in that region right now. it is already being shared with france. here is some of what panetta had to say about the u.s. role and the operation to rid mali of al qaeda, in the islamic maghreb or aqim. take a listen. >> we have commended the french for this effort to try to go into mali to stop the aqim. these terrorists and members of al qaeda from being able to develop a base of operations in mali. >> reporter: he was very clear, jon, no u.s. boots on the ground. there is another reason for that by the way. the government of mali right now is a product of a military coup which was staged last year which got

rid of a democratically elected government there. according to u.s. guidelines we can not legally assist directly that government. so we have to do it indirectly. mine while france continues that assault and continues to deal with fallout from the assault against the islamists. they are stepping up their presence back home of troops and police out on the streets in paris and elsewhere against a possible terrorist strike. yesterday one rebel leader came out and said france has opened the gates of hell with this operation. finally french officials had been talking about this operation as being a matter of a few weeks. at least their involvement today. they seem to be backing away from that a little bit hinting that it could be a longer operation to try to get rid of all the islamist elements and dangers in mali. french, u.s., u.s. military officials who i have been speaking with, over the past couple months, got to tell you, jon, have been a little bit more cautious, they have been wary about this operation. they say it could be long

and hard t would need the involvement of african troops. that is probably the reason why i spoke to u.s. military officials today. they say they're watching closely their monitoring the situation in the ground and deciding on the details of the u.s. participation. back to you. jon: so many problems in that part of the world and they seem to be growing. greg palkot, thanks. >> reporter: thanks, jon. jenna: for years he was a symbol of american pride. now he is considered a disgrace to his sport and a huge disappointment to some of his fans, lance armstrong admitting to oprah winfrey he cheated by using enhancement performing drugs. his real troubles may just be beginning. what lies ahead to him and those connected to his alleged scheme. we'll talk more about that. the president could reveal his new gun control proposals over the next couple days. what some of the measures might be and the fallout the white house could face if it goes around congress to enact that. more more next on "happening now."

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jon: brand new developments in the gun control debate. president has recommendations reducing violence, set to announce his proproposals. reports say those could come as early as tomorrow. the president is reportedly weighing 19 steps he could take through executive order, meaning without congressional approval. that is sparking controversy and major pushback from republicans like congressman john fleming of louisiana. who says, quote, if president obama tries to use executive orders to challenge the fundamental protections of the second amendment he will face strong opposition. while the president is welcome to offer his ideas and proposals it is up to congress to address gun legislation and i urge president obama to remember that distinction. joining us now, a.b. stoddard, associate editor and columnist at "the hill." the there are a number of proposals that the

president apparently is considering. what could he actually accomplish through executive action, ab? >> well, he is hoping basically to tighten laws, many of the laws on the books already, having to do with background checks, et cetera. that is not the power grab that opponents of gun control and the president's plans fear. they are not going to try to do any mandates or bans which is within the power of the congress and will require legislation and votes by both chambers. he is talking about, looking at tightening existing restrictions on the importation of guns from other countries. promoting, conducting research on gun violence, prosecuting people who, engage in fraud and background checks. lie in background checks. things like this. information-sharing across the federal government, local and state about mental health records. this is the kind of thing that is not going to take

away anybody's guns or their law full rights to own them. and big executive power grab is not on its way. jon: well, there are a lot of people who are very frightened about that possibility, look at the lines at gun dealers right now. there are a lot of americans out there who own guns who think president obama will want to take them away. >> well, that is true. as we talked about before. we're seeing an incredible swelling not only in the purchasing of guns but in the, in nra membership as well. i think that there is an expected, expectation on the part of the administration that the national rifle association's power is going to be quite, formidable and that they are not going to be able to pass everything in their legislative package, which as you mention is going to be outlined in specifics, soon. it will include, an assault weapons ban. it will include restrictions on magazine clips and high capacity ammunition. that is the kind of thing that will be fought hard by

the nra. white house doesn't expect an assault weapons ban to pass but it will include it in its goals because they want to include everything in its goals. i think what they're expecting in the end to find consensus on is more like, i said, consensus and cooperation in the area of background checks and screening, before guns are purchased. maybe the closing of the gun show loophole so that people engaging in private sales and buying guns at shows are going to have to undergo background checks that is something, if you look in polling is popular even with nra membership, whether or not the leadership is going to fight it from the nra is another question. jon: a.b. stoddard from "the hill." thanks for being with us. >> thank you. jenna: more on that story as we get it. brand new evidence from the jodi arias murder trial. brand new evidence that the prosecutors say prove that she killed her boy fropd in --

boyfriend in cold blood. a woman steals a train and slams it into a apartment building. why did she do that? hi. i'm henry winkler.

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s. jon: right now prosecutors are introducing graphic new evidence in the jodi arias murder trial in arizona. the 32-year-old looking away as the jury viewed need pictures of her and her ex-boyfriend, the now dead, travis alexander taken on the day he was stabbed and shot to death in 2008. one photo shows alexander sitting down in the shower. another image, time stamped less than two minutes later shows what appears to be a bloody body on the shower floor. police say arias took those noters. the jury also saw a police interrogation video which arias denies stealing and

using the gun used to kill her ex-boyfriend. >> i didn't even know there were guns until my grand parents reported it stolen the day their house was broken into. >> when was that? >> i don't remember. a few months ago, maybe? >> what did you do with the gun? >> i don't have the gun. jon: lis weill, fox news legal analyst. chip merlin, criminal defense attorney. let's start with the testimony about the gun, chip, sometimes that kind of thing can come back and bite the prosecution and i want to ask you about that. the weapon used, the gun used in this horrible killing has never been found. it turns out that a, it was a 25 caliber gun. .25 caliber, pistol. and such a weapon was stolen from arias's grandparents home in the days before the killing. the evidence of all of this was allowed into court but

is there any evidence that shows that jodi arias was the person who obtained such a weapon? >> well, no, there is no evidence that indicates that she obtained it although circumstantially, it was one .25 caliber gun taken from the grandparents house. i don't know if all that matters. her attorneys in their opening statement have already admitted she killed him. she stabbed him. and she shot him, the only question in this case is the motive, is it self-defense or not. that is the real issue. everybody else is looking at these facts right now, but that is already established. her attorneys admitted she killed him. jon: so you don't think it was overreach on the part of prosecution to bring in the tape where she is talking with the police detectives? >> i don't think it was an overreach by them. as a matter of fact i would do it all day long if i were them. what the defense is trying to do, you listen to the testimony. you're trying to show that there is overreaching, and lying by the police officer. melendez, regarding the e-mails and the texts coming out and things like that.

you can't belief the entire story about the prosecution as to exactly what happened in the room. only two people that really know, one of them is dead and the other is in the courtroom. jon: those shower photos are quite incriminating, lis. she supposedly claims he was on abusive guy. if he died while taking a shower, that is about as psycho as you can get. that is an ambush. >> absolutely, jon. that is great evidence for the prosecution. don't forget she has changed her story so many times, first of all she had nothing to do with it. intruders, really? they will take the photos. the photos will look a lot different if intruders were taking photos. would be shock and surprise on the face, not what we're seeing here. that puts her there. i disagree with chip. i think it is very important the prosecution and show every single piece of this it is largely a circumstantial case although there is a lot of physical evidence there, her handprints, bloody handprints. got her saying oh i did do

it, i didn't do it, but i did do it but self-defense. self-defense, slitting of throat and gunshot to the head? stealing from grandparents is very, remarkable, nothing else or very little was taken from grandparents home, which is that one gun she had no indication of. jon: other guns apparently in the collection were left behind. it is a thief who wants to take a bunch guns. >> they would take everything and money. no money was taken. none of the big things you normally take with a basic theft. jon: we are continuing to watch that case. we'll see what the jury decides again. it is, it is pretty disturbing. chip merlin, lis wiehl, thank you both. >> got it. >> thank you. >> dramatic images coming out of sweden where a woman hijacked a empty commuter train and slammed it into an apartment building. police say the 22-year-old took the train from a deep poe where she works as cleaner, drove it to a suburb of stockholm. she then jumps the tracks and sent the train careening

into this three-story building as you see on the screen. according to local media, five residents were sleeping in the building at the time of the accident. they were not injured. only the woman who was driving, at one point was injured. she was taken to the hospital in stockholm and arrested. no word on her motive. hmmm. jon: that may be one of the weirdest hijacking stories i have ever seen. jenna: they said she was cleaning in the depot. she didn't have any direction to drive it. apparently the train operator said it is pretty easy to do. you can jump in and drive the train. jon: don't try this at home, right? live armstrong, lance armstrong i should say, livestrong, i get confused. reportedly lance confessed to doping during an interview with oprah winfrey. our panel discusses the potential fallout. british airways employee was sent home from work because she wouldn't take off a cross she wears around her neck.

a judge weighs in. the feel fallout on that just ahead.

jon: european court ruling that a british airways, i'm sorry, that british airways discriminated against a devout christian employee. she sued the airline after she was sent home from work for refusing to remove a cruisesy fix she wears around her neck. amy kellogg has the story live from london. what happened, amy. >> reporter: the european

court of human rights ruled she should be able to wear the cross. it is being cled a landmark ruling there has been a lot of debate across the continent and the hijab, the forms of muslim veil but there is first time there has been a controversy about christian religious symbols on a personal level at least. it has park ad great debate here in the u.k. about the role of religion in public life. now, the european court today in strasbourg, france, ruled that nadia's implyers, british airways, policy interfered with her right to practice her religion. she was quote jubilant and very pleased that quote, christian rights had been vindicated. british airways sent her home without pay in 2006 when she refused to remove her cross or put it under her uniform. she lost her case in a british employment tribunal, it ruled it is not the religious duty of christians

to wear a cross. but ba ultimately changed the dress code rules and reinstated eweida. she feels they did it under pressure and not a change of heart. her victory does again sit her for -- compensate her for lost pay is a symbolic one. >> i have colleagues who wear hijab and muslim colleagues that don't wear hijab. they have a choice to wear it or don't wear it. everybody has the right and faith and makeup to express their faith in their way. why should i be discriminated against on par with other colleagues? >> reporter: british prime minister john david cameron today tweeted that he was delighted that the principle of wearing a religious symbol was upheld. jon? jon: good for her. amy kellogg in london. thanks. jenna: new reaction to one of the biggest stories of the day. lance armstrong admitting to

oprah winfrey during a taped interview that she is a cheater. the disgraced cyclist, stripped of sufficient tour de france titles that he huge reversal after years and years of public denials. winfrey's interview with armstrong will air later this week but she hit the airwaves today to share details about it and responded this way when asked if armstrong seems contrite. take a listen. >> i choose not to characterize. i would rather people make their own decisions about whether he was contrite or not. i felt that he was thoughtful. i thought that he was serious. i thought that he certainly had prepared himself for this moment. and i would say he met the moment. at the end of it, 2 1/2, literally 2 1/2 hours, we both were pretty exhausted and, i would say, i was satisfied. jenna: word of armstrong's

admission perhaps vindication for those who also for years claimed that he cheated, including the head of the u.s. anti-doping agency who made a very strong case against armstrong. >> some of the words that you used, in, outlining your case, were drug possession, trafficking, cover-up, conspiracy, you described lance armstrong as quote, the enforcer end quote. pretty tough stuff. >> serious business. the evidence was serious. >> why did you use those words? what led to you describe it in that way? it reads like a mafia conspiracy. >> scott, we heard the evidence. we heard the stories from the athletes. and it supported without question, ever allegation that we put in that letter, that obviously now has been shown to be true. jenna: for nor on this, sportscaster jim gray is a fox news contributor.

joining us, sean asale, writer for espn the magazine. author of the book, steroid nation. he has been looking for this for years. a psychiatrist, dr. keith ablow, a member of the fox news medical a-team. a great panel. thank you for being here. this house of cards, dr. ablow, comes right down in front of us. apparently we'll see it for ourselvesselves on thursday. the why now part is a question oprah says she is not sure about. why do you think, dr. ablow? >> first i would like to see the interview and see just how clean lance armstrong comes here, in order to understand whether he is really connecting what happened, whether he is really admitting it and really connecting it to his life story and to weaknesses in his character, where you would be able to answer the question, why did you do this. because, if it is a series of excuses and implicating other people and very widespread and had to do this to win, that is not really an admission or a description of why his

character was flawed. so i would like to see more of that. jenna: sure. >> otherwise, if that is not there, the why now would be about some strategy he has to launch another part of his brand. jenna: some are suggesting that, sean. that is why he wanted to come clean and able to compete again in triathelons or whatever he wants to do. one fact really haunted our conversations the last several years about lance armstrong, that he has never tested positive on the record for hundreds of tests. so how did he do that? if this is a case, if he is admitting guilt, how did he elude the results for some years? >> that is the easy part. drug test sugar badge in, garbage out, and you know how the machines are programmed, you can get around them. lance was a master on this. epo. this is incree mennal. he haed a chance. this man committed him self to find a cure for cancer, big, big, issues. when he had a chance to strike a grand bargain he couldn't do it.

why is he doing it now? he has a little go bag. that go bag is full of lawsuits that have already been settled. he knows how he can move on. he has a clear strategy. i think this is craven and below some of the themes that he pretends to stand for. jenna: do you agree, jim? >> well, i don't know that i would make that assessment. he is the only person who is in his mind. i guess we'll have to try to depend on him to tell us what it is in his mind. he hasn't told us the truth for all these many years so i don't know how he can expect the truth to come now. that is the problem going forward. that is the way i see it. how can anybody said after he pulled off what travis tying err called the most sew fate cased -- sophisticated anti-doping program the history of sport has ever seen. i don't know how you come back from that. i don't know how you do all the good work from cancer and people want to give money to the foundation as good as it is been knowing

they are giving it so someone an outright liar and deceived the public and deceived the world. jenna: he deceived the public and world. according to what we hear about the interview and we'll see what happens. sean, who else could be going down in all of this, after the years of the potential cover-up? >> now looks like all the people who enabled lance to cheat are now going to get thrown under the bus. his long-time financeer. and pat mcquaid, possibly the head of the uci. could have lance implicating the head of his sport, i don't know a baseball player trying to implicate mlb in cover-ups. so for a guy who has been willing to sue to kind of be a enforcer in his sport i think you will see him bring the same kind of aggressiveness throwing his long-time aides under the bus. jenna: some of those names we're not familiar with. we compiled clips over the years which heard time and time again him suggest certain things about his

performance. take a listen to this sound, if you will. >> we're sick and tired of these allegations and we're going to do everything we can to fight them. they are absolutely untrue. to the critics and skeptics i'm sorry for you. i'm sorry you can't dream big and don't believe in miracles. i was on my deathbed, you think i come back in the sport, and say give me everything you got, i want to go fast? no way i would ever do that. jenna: how could someone lie over and over again in public for years and years and think he could get away with it? we'll talk to dr. ablow about that. more from our panel after a quick break.

jenna: more on the big story today. lance armstrong admitting in an interview with oprah after years of denial of his guilt of doping. sportscaster jim gray is with us. sean assae, espn magazine and dr. keith ablow, a

psychiatrist, member of our fox medical a-team. we showed that clip in public and lying year after year. who does that? not just lying about that but attacking former teammates and the anti-doping agency. he hurt other people as well in this process. who does that? >> who does that? well the lance armstrongs and bernie madoffs of our world, right? who are willing to perpetrate ponzi schemes or false athletic careers, because the need is so great. somewhere deep inside lance armstrong, is a battered person. i'm not excusing what he is doing, or has done, but somewhere in inside him, conviction that he must race faster and faster. that he must win. that he must be loved by millions or he is unloved and unworthy, and has no value at all? that kind of fuel will keep a man lying because to turn around and face whatever happened in his life, we know some of the things. abandoned at age 2 by a

father he has nothing to do with. a stepfather coming into his life. he has nothing to do with him. bad things happened to this guy. and i won't look at it. jenna: is that someone just a jerk? someone that just lies and cheats and is just a jerk? or is that somebody that has a specific type of disorder? some people are throwing around terms like narcissism? does he fall into that category? >> i haven't evaluated him but i won't diagnose him formally but jerk don't do it. the jerk is the guy who won't give a fair deal at the bike store, right? but this is an exotic animal if you will. this is somebody who will lie to a camera. who will throw people under the bus who thought that they were this his friend. sure, there might be a diagnosis that can describe that but it won't tell us the story of this little boy, who came to believe that the truth has no value, and nobody will help you and you ought not to help anyone else. jenna: i would like to get jim and sean to weigh in on this as well. some of his teammates,

lance armstrong's teammates had a ban of six months, when typically they're banned for two years when they use any sort of substance. so they were able to get back into the game, if you will. what do you think is an appropriate punishment for lance armstrong bade on what we know now? is it a lifetime ban? is it still appropriate in your mind? >> yes, i think it is. i don't think that he should be reconsidered. he had his chance. first of all he is 41 years old. he will not race the tour de france again. even if he would, he would not be a competitor worthy whether or not he was on drugs. it is past his time. he should be banned for life and hopefully something good can come from this. to your other point. look back on history. when you say what type of people. did we every expect the single season rushing leader in the history of the nfl, o.j. simpson would be involved in this behavior? did we ever think the heavyweight champion of the world, mike tyson, would bite off an ear? did we think barry bonds would be involved in

steroids? the list is long and lengthy rand goes on and on and on. it is just a shame because we hold the people to a higher standard. we look up to them and as role models they let us down. tiger woods, it goes on and on. it is not an aberration. more along the line there is lot of this going on. jenna: it isn't an aberration. that is something lance armstrong apparently said to the doping agency as well. everybody is doing this. everybody. you don't even test for the nfl athletes. why am i any different? what would you say to lance armstrong if he said that? why is this different than anything else? >> well, first of all, he has been accused of being a ringleader. this is more than just a little isolated cell. balco and other scandals we've seen. it has been about isolated players. he is accused of perpetrating a mob-like conspiracy over entire sport. whether that is hyperbole or not. that succeeded in getting him banned for life. the spin forward here i think, there is a federal whistle-blower lawsuit against him and his, the

team that took u.s. taxpayer dollars to ride on the u.s. postal team. that is real exposure. i think the spin forward here is looking to, eliminate as much exposure as possible in that case. jenna: i see. so maybe a legal angle as well we have to consider here. jim, sean, dr. ablow, great to have you with us today. we appreciate your thoughts. >> thank you. >> thank you. jon: we'll take you coming up to the most expensive zip code in the country and it is not 90210, not even close. you might be surprised at where some of the mansions in this country are, where movie theaters and bowling alleys come as standard features, the tour ahead. ididid?

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jenna: new listings flow the most expensive very much codes from realtor.com has on the top of the list, alpine, new jersey that is currently listed as win of the most expensive properties in the united states at $58 million. some of the a-list celebrities once residing there in this area, p. diddy, stevie wonder and britney spears. but the real story may be the number of foreign buyers really flooding money into this market and what it means for our housing industry overall. david kaufman is a freelance journalist covers all things relating to lifestyle. you wrote about this in the financial tiles, alpine, new jersey. tell us about it what makes the difference? >> this community just eight miles north of new york city. you have a beverly hills style community, gated estates because of 20, 30,000 square foot estates, extreme security and extreme privacy, with merely 15 minutes from manhattan. >> we have the stone mansion, 58 million. who is buying a $58 million

mansion these days? >> the price is reduced to 49 million. jenna: what a steal. >> what a steal. they're looking probably incredible interest from foreign buyers, russians, chinese, probably late continues. these are people looking to offshore assets into a safe and secure property, in a market that will always have appeal to as many potential future buyers as possible. jenna: so these folks are not looking for a mortgage. they're not really in that department. what do you think is the impact of the economy overall as you are looking at trends across the country of this foreign money flooding in to some high-priced houses out there? >> at the moment foreign buyers only comprise less than 10% of all property buyers in the u.s. but what is good to know that they're buying the big mark key show place -- marquee properties. a property sold in miami was sold to a russian. highest properties in manhattan was sold to russians. they are shedding light on the kind of market at top tier of what is available right now. most people who are

purchasing in the u.s. are actually americans. jenna: interesting to note that still some of those high-priced properties were reduced and reduced before they were finally sold. >> i think what you're having people are throwing out prices to see what they can get, because you're having $100 million sales in the big markets. folks are saying i can get that too. i can get the record prices. let me see what i can do. jenna: are they that good when you see some of the properties. are they awesome, worth more than the $48 million. >> they're worth what people are paid to them. one of the problems people don't actually live there because these are people with some homes all over the world. jenna: what a life? >> they're paying to put their money somewhere safe and secure and they know they can get it. jenna: interesting to note. you innings ined less than 10% of the market and sill coming to the united states to do this always nice to have you, david. we appreciate it. we're bark with more "happening now"

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flights canceled. who is in the storm's path now and in the days to come? also with the debate front and center over how to control gun violence one school is taking security into its own hands posting armed guards. is this the model other schools might follow? and an american pastor behind bar tph-s iran becauss in iran because of his christian beliefs. he is to go on trial in front of one of the country's hanging judges. all that and more on "happening now." jenna: one of our top headlines of the day, americans could face another round of tax hikes, and we welcome you to "happening now," i'm jenna lee. jon: just what we need. jenna: that is not really good news to start off, right? jon: not the way to start the second hour. jenna: it's an important news. jon: i'm jon scott. the president is laying the groundwork for another tax increase and he is not alone. top democrats are ready once again to raid the piggy bank. republicans say they want to

fight for significant spending cuts before they will agree to raise the debt limit. president obama is pushing back demanding new tax hikes in return for any spending cuts. >> if john boehner and mitch mcconnell think that they can come up with a plan that somehow meets their criteria that they've set for why they will -- when they will raise the debt ceiling, they are free to go ahead and try. jon: chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill now. how are some of the top republicans responding to president obama on this debt ceiling issue? >> reporter: well, jon, republicans are clearly uncomfortable with prominent democrats already talking about a tax increase when you consider the fiscal cliff deal raised taxes and every worker with a payroll tax hiring expiring and raised taxes on upper income americans even further, check

your pay stub. a leading republican says responding to the president what's critical is getting spending under control. >> it's a compelling message saying we ned to pay the bills we've racked up. of it messes the whole point again. think of it in terms of a credit card. in you have a son or daughter who exceeds the limit, the first thing you do is rip up the card, the second thing you do is you say you need to change your spending habits. >> reporter: they say we need to a just what bills we are paying and how they are paying. jon: the issue of depending on disaster relief could provide tkraeupl drama there on capitol hill. >> reporter: speaker john boehner promised that the house would take up sandy relief bills today. some republicans are saying we should pay the disaster relief money but we should also pay for them, so wrong man make mulvaney from south carolina has offered an an amendment offering an aeu

skros the board put of discretionary spending to pay for sandy relief. a leading house democrat from new york is pushing back. >> we must oppose the mulvaney amendment which is an across the board cut to offset the costs of disaster relief. i want to repeat this point again. in the united states of america we respond to disasters. all americans respond to disasters. we don't ask for offsets. >> reporter: with our debt at $16 trillion and counting and disasters every year a lot of lawmakers are saying the u.s. congress, the u.s. government should do a better job of budgeting, setting money aside for disasters so north just surprises every year that add to our debt, jon. jon: a hroflt american a lot of americans might tell that congresswoman that the state of our piggy bank is a disaster

right now. jenna: major banks are turning to one of the government's top intelligence agencies to protect their computer systems from cyber crooks or even worse. the collaboration has critics and our chief correspondent catherine herridge is live with a look at all of this. >> reporter: within days of the 9/11 attack in benghazi and other ant eye american demonstrations in the middle east a series of cyber attacks were launched against major u.s. pwa*pgs. the head of the house intelligence meeting who has been briefed on the scale and intense satisfactory steve the attacks says all the data points towards iran. >> if you look at their pattern of behavior we new that iran had been interested in targets. it has had a nation state fingerprint and only a nation state has something this size. people can draw their own conclusions but i clear we would not rule it out. >> reporter: every major u.s. bank has been targeted with a denial of service attack.

a previously unknown group identifying itself as cyber fighters is exsuspected in the attacks with tacking from teheran. there was a major saudia attack on ramco the world's largest producer of crude oil with 30,000 computers affected. they say this is evidence of a brewing cyberwar. win days of the 9/11 event in benghazi another attack targeting the banks. seen as sending a message to the west. the cyber attacks may be the prelude to something more disruptive or destructive. >> it showed that they had a growing ka*b capability and many believed it was more of a probing exercise, in other words, trying to find july in a rjuly in a vulnerabilities

rants what the final attack will be. jenna: thank you. jon: new developments in the plight of an american pastor imprisoned in iran because of his christian faith. his iranian lawyer says he will go on trial next week before a judge notorious for handing down harsh sentences. dave lee miller is keeping an eye on this. he is live with more. >> reporter: an american pastor is now in an iranian prison awaiting trial on charges that could result in the death penalty. his crime, establishing a network of churches in people's homes. the iranians say his work undermines national security. although he's been in custody since september the criminal charges that he faces date back to the year 2000. that's when he converted from islam to christianity, an act which carries the death sentence in iran. he became a u.s. citizen after his marriage to an american woman e. says he is being tortured while in prison. days ago the state department

called on iran not to violate his human rights. >> he was arrested by iranian officials more than three months ago on charges related to his religious beliefs. we understand that a hearing will be held soon and we call on iranian officials to respect iran's own laws and provide him access to an attorney. >> reporter: his supporters say during trial his fate will be in the hand of a jurist with a reputation of being one of iran's hanging judges. following the 2009 elections in iran the judge handed out death sentences to several human rights activists. he's described as a shadowy figure, he never appears in public and there are no known photos of the judge. in april 2011 the european union named the judge as subject to personal sanctions because of his human rights violations. the pastor to remains steadfast and says he is prepared to hang for his faith in jesus. his wife and kids are in the u.s. it remains uncertain when if ever he will see them again. supporters are now urging

washington to do more to pressure iran to set him free. jon. jon: what a story. david lee miller, thank you. jenna: an f.b.i. agent returning to the stand today in the terror trial of a 21-year-old somali-american. he's charged with attempting to bomb portland's christmas tree lighting ceremony back in 2010. the explosives were fake, provided by the f.b.i. now his lawyers say he's the victim of entrapment. dan springer is live at the courthouse in portland with more on all of this. hi, dan. >> reporter: yeah, hi, jenna. since 9/11 the f.b.i. has conducted well over one hundred of these terrorism-related sting operations. in almost ever case the defense claims entrapment. that defense has not worked a single time yet. hraoelg experts say because the bar is so high. in this case the evidence against mohammed mohammed appears very strong. his father contacted the tprao*eub worried mohammed was

becoming rad dhaka hraoeuzed. he had written about jihad and becoming a mart you are. but the defense argues he was young, impressionable and during the elaborate f.b.i. sting operation groomed to be a would be killer. it's a risky defense. >> they need to so something else entirely, andt their client was not the least bit predisposed to want to do that at all, and proving that is actually very difficult under these kind of circumstances. >> reporter: the defense admits mohammed hit numbers on a cellphone thinking it would detonate a massive bomb in a van right in the middle of a holiday tree lighting ceremony here in downtown portland. the bomb was a fake an was arrested. the defense does have a couple of advantages. first the jury pool. in 2005 the city pulled its officers out of the joint terrorism task force, also the first time mohammed met face to

nice with an undercover agent the f.b.i. says the tape recorder did not work. >> a skeptical jury could think, wow, it's very convenient that the most important meeting is the one that is not recorded. everything else is recorded. that one meeting is not record recorded. >> reporter: and the first of the two f.b.i. undercover agents will be back on the stand today expecting a withering cross-examination. it's the defense's only hope of getting an acquittal here or a hung jury. if he's convicted he faces the possibility of life behind bars jo a big story dan. we'll continue to watch this one as well. thank you. jon: in the wake of what happened in newtown, connecticut, what do you think about armed guards at your childrens' school? school district across the country are moving ahead with plans to hire more security. and the u.s. military is dealing with a deadly problem, one that claimed the lives of more troops last year than the total number killed in action. we'll get into that coming up.

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snoop let's take a look at some of the crime stories topping the head hines right now. in chicago customs officials are investigating a bizarre shipment of 18 human heads that arrived at o'hare airport. authorities are looking into whether they are legitimate medical samples. a new report from the f.b.i. find a jump in violent crime last year after a nearly two-decade slide. violent crime was up almost 2% in the first half of 2012. and a reputed detroit mafia leader is the latest to opl forward with a ticome forward with a tip in the 1975 advertise appearance of jimmy hoffa. he claims his remains were left in a vacant lot in michigan around 30 miles away from a

restaurant where he was last seen. jenna: a disturbing report from the pentagon and the numbers are quite significant so we wanted to take a closer look at this. suicides among members of the military are reaching a record level. when we look at the data looking back at last year. this chart shows the numbers rising steadily higher as you can see the last year's total more than double what it was before 9/11. our senior national correspondent john roberts is live in atlanta making a closer look at awful this. john. >> reporter: good afternoon to you. this really is a troubling reversal of what had been a positive trend over the past couple of years. here are the numbers according to a pentagon survey back in 2011 a year ago we had 301 suicides among active duty members n. 201-2349 suicides. that eastbound exceeded the deaths in afghanistan. the trend is continuing despite efforts by the pentagon to make

it a top priority and every branch of the military has a comprehensive suicide prevention program. most troubling is the marines. they had been leading the charge in suicide prevention. the numbers had been down a couple of years. we dad did a report on that program. their numbers of service members, marines who committed suicide went up by 50% last year. according to bonnie carol who heads up the tragedy assistance program for survivors more and more troops are feeling the affects of repeated deployments. here is what she told me. >> for our men and women in uniform these are challenging times. they are transitioning out of the forces back from deployments and it's the perfect storm of so many factors coming together, post-traumatic stress, alcohol, financial problems, seeking employment in the private sector now is tough. >> reporter: and as the war in afghanistan begins to wind down and a lot of the troops will rotate home many experts say this problem will get worse

before it gets better. jenna: there is a lot more attention when we talk about military and suicides from folks inside the military. with all of the attention why does it seem like it's getting worse? >> reporter: basically what is happening is that the system is being overwhelmed and the department of defense knows well about a critical lack of qualified mental health providers who can identify and treat soldiers who may be at risk. paul rycoff told me it's time the president step in to do something about it. >> the president could step up tomorrow and issue a national call for qualified mental healthcare workers. if you want to serve your country go be a psychiatrist, a social worker, a psychologist, help these woman on active duty and at the va when they come home. a message from someone like the president on this issue, a call to action we think would go along way. >> reporter: he told mow that as well-intentioned as the department of defense programs are to address this after years of ignoring the issue of suicide

they really are like the dutch boy with his finger in the dyke tolding back against a flood of need. there are good resources out there for anyone who feels they maybe in trouble. eyiraq-afghanistan survivors. a lot of these suicides are not just among people who are destroyed from war zones but people who have never been deployed pw-fp. before. they are running into financial problems or personal problems and they are a particular challenge to identify and take care of because they are not in that intensity of combat operations with battle buddies and more people looking out for them. it's becoming a much bigger problem than it ever was. jenna: important context on all of that. thank you. jon: we'll look at this issue, how the news media are changing the way they cover stories in 140 characters or less.

our news watch panel weighs in with that, plus the new terror hot spot many folks could not even find on a map, where al-qaida is gaining a foothold, and what the u.s. wants to do about it. mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

. jenna: big news out of mali, the u.s. is considering getting involved in the battle against al-qaida fighters trying to take over the african nation of malia. our defense secretary leon panetta says the u.s. could soon provide france with logistical recon a sans and air support on its assault on terrorists there which started dramatically over the weekend. militants linked to al-qaida control an area of northern malia roughly the size of texas and it's growing. let's bring in j. peter bond.

we've talked about this over the last several months. it's nice to have you back with us. >> pleasure to be back, jenna. jenna: this story has changed. france is involved now specifically going after these terrorist cells. what should our role be? >> i think what france has done, and insofar as on a limited basis it's been helpful is it stopped an offensive by the islamists last week which was driving southward. the problem now, though, as france has not yet deployed sufficient troops to retake the large area that you spoke about that the islamists control and they really don't have enough troops really to stop all the offenses that they've now stirred up. we now need to reconsider, recalibrate our strategy which has been to slowly build up an african force to deal with this. jenna: is that slow build up of the african force prepared in anyway to take on these groups? >> well, certainly not now, and

not immediately. the plan was to do this over the course of a year. unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view the french action last week more or less has forced everyone's hand. it's moved up a timetable and the question is whether there are the resources necessary or have we stirred up a hornet's nest without being ready for hit. >> we did see france in the past and libya leadingth way in a similar way forcing the hand if you will to be more involved, more involvement from the international community. let's go back to where we stand in all of this. peter. what should our role rile be here? >> several things. certainly we should support an allied france where we can with intelligence, with logistics as appropriate. but we node to think about a strategy that can last beyond the moment. and this is the danger in the front strategy, they've put a few soldiers out there, about 750, they planned to make it perhaps 2,000, but that is not

going to be enough, and so we need to look -- jenna: what are we facing, peter -- let's say there are a couple thousand of troops on the ground you say the numbers are less than that for france, what kind of numbers are they facing as far as islamist militants. >> they are facing probably low thousands as far as hard-core militants. the militants have buil built up a huge war chest through kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking. they can hire tracting fighters in and they've also forced children into their ranks. their ranks are fairly swollen and they do control a large desert terrain than they know better than outsiders. jenna: i was listening to an interview with the former foreign minister of france an was asked why does mali matter. we've talked about that in the past. his answer to that was we have to fight against terrorist, period. we have to remain very firm and we did. as far as the united states, peter, if these are the bad

guys, why shouldn't we go in and take them out? >> well, i have no quarrel with taking out, especially key leaders, which would then weaken the movement as a whole. the question i have is really, do we have the resources ready to take on the task of reoccupy and restoring this area to mali? i think they are two 2008 questions. stopping the terrorists which i think is in the international community's interest and rather rebuilding the malian state is an entirely different thing. jenna: what is the risk if we don't directly confront the threat of militants in mali right now? >> i think the risk is that they will create a safe-haven. already terrorists are gathering there, coming from all over. last month the f.b.i. arrested two american citizens from alabama who were headed to their for training. so it is a threat. the problem is, it's not a matter of dealing with the terrorists, the risk is being dragged into a larger conflict.

and i think we need to establish very clearly up front what are the objectives of this military action. jenna: sounds like a big story again to watch, as we see and watch this develop in the state of mali. to your point can't go in necessarily trying to rebuild the government there. peter it's great to ask have you as always. we look forward to having you back. >> thank you, jenna. jon: across this country right now schools are taking more steps to try to protect their students. some are even turning to armed guards. is that the answer? plus, president obama contradicting himself when it comes to the debt ceiling. so what does the mainstream media have to say about that? our news watch panel takes a look. [ dad ] find ? a. alright, another one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one...

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jon: fox news alert. we are awaiting the daily briefing from the white house press room. we are learning that president obama will announce tomorrow his plans for gun control in this country, including according to the "washington post," an assault weapons ban and some limits on the number of cartridges that can be held in magazines. that's according to "the washington post," those to be announced tomorrow. we are going to hear the official announcement of the timing of the white house announcement when the presidential press secretary steps to the microphone there in the brady press briefing room. that is scheduled for any minute now. we'll keep an ear on it and let you know if there is news coming out of it.

jenna: as washington debates really what to do about gun violence one school district accelerating its plans to arm school guards, plans it had in mays well before the connecticut shooting tragedy. the butler school district in western pennsylvania is hardly alone when it comes to having an armed security presence on school grounds. again they are carrying out plans they made in the past. chief political correspondent carl cameron is live from butler, pennsylvania with more. how is the community reacting to these proposed plans. >> reporter: really quite positively. when you consider the president will unveil his proposals tomorrow likely to be a legislative attempt to ban military-style or what really amount to semi-automatic rifles that is a piece of legislation sponsored by california democrat dianne feinstein in the senate, as well as the attempt to restrict the size of high capacity ammo magazines, that would have to likely be legislation. we know there will be 19 separate executive orders that joe biden the vice president has proposed to the president and he'll be culling through those

and unveiling those. one thing to be discussed is armed security in public schools. here at this elementary school they have them underway. in fact the idea the notion to do it at the 14 schools in this district actually originated before the sandy hook tragedy now more than a month ago in newtown, connecticut. we talked to the mayor about this yesterday writ is indeed apparently a warmly received idea and policy with perhaps only one exception, listen. >> i believe there was only maybe one family that felt that that was the wrong decision. the others certainly agreed with that. butler school district has over 8,000 students, so i think they feel confident that, you know, that butler is taking the steps to protect the children as much as that is humanly possible. >> reporter: and when you consider that there are some almost 500 school district in pennsylvania and well over a hundred have had or are now implementing some sort of armed

security, whether it's private or in this case here in butler, these are retired state troopers who have to pass a very tough certification, it's a lot more commonplace than many think. across the country 10,000 school district and thousands have armed security in their schools either before the trapblg doe or itragedy or in the aftermath are putting it in place. jenna: thank you, carl. jon: if you caught president obama's news conference yesterday you might have thought he sounded a little bit testy. tap dancing around a question about his voting record as a senator against raising the debt ceiling. how is that different, the reporters wanted to know from his current position in which he wants to raise the debt ceiling? but you don't hear much about his contradictory stand in the mainstream media. why not? let's go to our news watch panel, ellen ratner is bureau chief and fox news contributor. radio talk show host mary walter also with us. welcome to you both. mary, what about that.

in 2008 president obama was on the campaign trail, you know, bragging about the fact that he had, you know, voted against raising the debt ceiling. that was at a time when our national debt was much smaller than it is now stpheu don't know, jon, round like a little romnesia doesn't it? this is what happens. this is what they do. you're not going to hear it from the media, because have you ever noticed whenever something happens with this administration there is always a special circumstance witness, there is always a reason why it's not hypocrisy this time. there's also a reason why it's different this time. and that's their way of i guess kind of expunging what little record he has on voting when he was a senator. this way they make an excuse for him every time. well, it's not the same this time as it was when bush wanted to do it. and that's what they are going to do and they'll continue to do that for the next four years and i think we are all kind of used to it by now. jon: let me reach a floor beach

that senator obama gave in 2006, ellen. he said leadership means that the buck stops here. instead washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. america has a debt and a failure of leadership, americans deserve better, i therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase america's debt limit. that was what senator obama had to say. why does it not apply now that he's president? >> well, first of all, you know, i don't understand why it applies or not applies, that's what he address ned his press conference. what i do want to address is the mainstream media. a lot of people think it's a liberal by as and it may be liberal by as, i don't know, i'm a liberal so -- okay. what i do think it may be is media laziness. i have to fault the mainstream media for not putting side-by-side the president's comments with his votes. i think that american people, no matter who is president, whether it's president bush or president

obama deserve to see somebody's votes. of course president bush was a governor but he still had policies, and the president's vote should have been right out there in front in the mainstream media. jon: mary is it media laziness or the fact that under a george w. bush presidency it was easier for the media to pile on, you know, the coverage of the debt ceiling and the explosion in the debt that began back then? >> the media is not lazy when they are looking for something that they want to look for. remember, this is the same media that dug up one of rick santorum's wife's exboyfriends from high school. the media is not lazy when they want to find something. they don't want to find this on obama. he's their guy. and it is a liberal by as, because if they wanted to find it they could find it, they choose not to. no excuse. jon: ellen i'm sorry are go ahead. >> there is just no excuse for it. he walked back some of what he said in 2006, essentially by

saying, well when hour a senator you vote for different things than when you're president. really it was just a protest vote, and it was meaningless, and, you know, again that does -- >> look, look, that was an absurd response. that is just not true. you have to be held accountable for your votes and your actions, and we held president bush accountable, and president obama can say i've had a change in heart, and then give the reasons, but don't belittle your vote. jon: i want to turn your attention to another topic that is in the news, the "wall street journal" talked about this the other day, the fact that twitter has become such a presence in mainstream media coverage, almost anybody can get their opinions out there by sending a tweet to, you know, some of the big four networks, and occasionally here on fox we use twitter. is that a dangerous thing,

mary? >> i think it's dangerous in the sense -- the only way it's dangerous, it's not like it's a danger, but i think it's irresponsible. because you don't know who is superman u.n. deroos21 really is. you don't know who the people are and you're quoting them on television and making them legitimate. if you want a legitimate source find someone who is credible and can act as a credible source. it's like asking to me when you use these twitter comments on something like the debt ceiling you might as well ask honey boo-boo's mom about what she this is, because you're reading her tweet on television and it's irresponsible. >> we wouldn't let anybody in our news organization do that. tv and radio has always used man on the streets. but people are associate wed a voice or picture. and that is a very response aeu to do it. the only way you could do this is to say we've got even 2,000 tweets and u know,% of them are

there and 50% of them are that. not a scientific poll but that would be a much more journalistic way of dealing witness. jon: you think that sort of anonymous tweets that really could come from anywhere in the world, i mean as far as we know we are occasionally putting, you know, i don't know, russian k-rbrussian kgb members, their tweets on television. you would be in favor of getting rid of that thing, ellen. >> absolutely. i think anonymous tweets do not belong on tv or radio. >> all right. >> ellen and i agree, it's a sign of the coming apocalypse. jon: my goodness, i hope not. thank you both. jenna: speaking of forecasts hopefully that's not it. a deep freeze down south where snow is causing a travel nightmare forcing airlines to cancel flights. where this storm is heading next. you should know that, we'll make sure we get you up to date. another step forward for a symbol of america's resilience. we'll tell you about a new

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jenna: it is winter, but snow and ice in dallas? well it prompted airlines to cancel hundreds of flights. the big question is where does this winter storm go next. janice dean is here from our fox weather center with maybe the answer to that. hey, jd. >> reporter: meantime we were dealing with 60-degree temperatures here in new york. it's a little bit of a flip-flop here. very cool temperatures across the south and we have the potential for not only snow but freezing rain and/or sleet, just a nasty mix that could delay travel, most certainly in the air and on the roadways. see that pink? it's pretty to look at but not travel on. you have relatively warmer air south of that line of pink and cooler air north of the pink line but that's the real area of concern where we have ice storm warnings. accumulating ice on the roads as well as the power lines and the trees, that could be very

disastrous in some of these areas. we'll keep and eye on it. freezing rain and ice storm warnings for all of these areas shaded in purple. travel will be next to impossible. so if you don't have to be on the roads they urge you to not be on the roads. its going to cause to major problems throughout the afternoon. by this evening things should improve a little bit. look at your forecast, you're just around the freezing mark around memphis, we are watching you certainly. central louisiana, up towards arkansas, up into tennessee. by this evening it should move north and eastward across the appalachians, the mid-atlantic in the northeast you could be dealing with icing early on tonight and overnight. looking at future radar ase head further now the time overnight west of d.c., philadelphia and new york you could see a mix here and mainly a snow event as it moves into wednesday and thursday for new england. how much snow are we going to get here across the appalachians and the northeast interior

sections could get 3 to 6. a general swath of one to three inches, though. again the main point, the main take away is we have very cold temperatures across the south so that icing will continue for the mid south, mississippi river valley, tennessee river valley into the afternoon into the afternoon. flights canceled out of dallas that will be a ripple affect across the country. jenna: a great heads up for us, jd, thank you. jon: let's take a look at headlines from around the world right now. a new wave of violence in belfast, ownre ireland. protestors loyal to great britain highjack two buses and throw rocks at police. the clash between catholics and loyalists began weeks ago when the belfast city council decided to end the tradition of flying the british flag over city hall every day. 19 dead, more than one hundred injured when a train derailed outside cairo. the train was carrying military recruits.

this is two weeks after a new transportation general was made to improve transit systems. airports getting back to normal today after a massive snowstorm stranded thousands of people. several highways were shut down due to the bad conditions. jenna: a landowner goes to court against the government claiming he's the victim of a shake down by uncle sam. we'll tell you about that story coming up. and soon it will be the tallet building in the western hemisphere. what happened today on the roof of the world trade center. we'll tell you, next.

jon: more than 11 years after the 9/11 terror attacks a milestone at ground zero in new york. we have a look at that. heather. >> reporter: today workers at one world trade center are putting in place the first piece of the spire that actually goes on top of that building that we've been watching go up for so many years now, and when this is finally complete the building, including that spire will be the tallest in the western hemisphere. sort of think about this. jon, as a modern day erector set. you can watch here as the crews use two huge cranes perched on top of the 104th floor and they are hoisting part of the spire to the top of that building. this one alone weighs 67 tons. you can see the concrete base of of the spire and it looks like kind of like i guess what you'd call a massive bolt. iron workers have the difficult task of lowering the bolt on the

male, female connectors before it's finally set into place. you may remember a few weeks ago this was a massive barge that brought sections of the spire across the hudson river, from newark, new jersey into lower manhattan and it took nearly a month to get to this point today. when the spire is finally set up that will be two to three months from now. it will be 1,776 feet high as it towers above all the others. there is a website the port authority of new york and new jersey has a website with a live camera that is set up 24-7. of course we'll continue to keep an eye on it. jon: that is some amazing architectural work. fascinating. >> nice to see finally. jon: sure is. thank you. jenna: the supreme court is set to hear arguments tph-pt case of a florida land own store was told by the government he could only develop his property if he also paid to improve land that

didn't belong to him. lower courts have described this case as government extortion. the big question about what the supreme court will do with this. shannon bream is live in washington with the latest in our regulation nation series. >> reporter: those arguments just wrapped up and i literally ran back through the rain just for "happening now" to tell but this. it's a legal fight that's been raging for near here 20 years. the landowner says the government is essentially trying to shake him down by making him this deal. we'll give you a permit to develop your land if you give us the majority of that parcel and paper improvements on a different piece of government land several miles away. today the justice is heard from both side in a very spirited argument where the government said it has a duty to protect wetlands in the area along with the authority to require the landowner to pay for the costs of any damage to those protected lands. the government argued that if the landowner didn't like the terms he was offered he should have come up with another solution instead of suing. well the original landowner has since passed away. his son has taken up the fight.

he says he would have been willing to workout a deal with the government but claims it had only one goal. >> about eight or nine years ago my wife and i left one of the hearings. we got into an elevator with two attorneys that were working for us, and three folks from st. johns water management district. one of our attorneys turned to the young woman and said, if you want mr. kootz land why don't you simply pay him for it. she looked at him and said, why should we pay him for it when we can just take it from him. >> reporter: there could be real trouble for that landowner. justice scalia repeatedly said during the case today that he had a hard time seeing that this situation amounted to an unlawful taking under the fifth amendment. he could be a crucial vote. jenna: thank you for running back through the rain. this story is so interesting. you mentioned the break down of the case overall. how is the plaintiff expected to react to the news of the day? >> reporter: you know what, he

was also in the courtroom and heard what justice scalia had to say, but that side sounded very confident as well. they said bottom line this is something that matters to every landowner in the united states, it's a very important decision, in their view they think the supreme court will side with the individual landowner and not the government. jenna: we'll see the decision in the next few months, right, shannon. >> reporter: by june. jenna: we always have to wait. okay. wish we knew it now but we can't be so lucky. great to see you as always. thank you. jon: she looks totally put together. jenna: no rain hair, nothing like that, a true professional. jon: good for you, shan and bream. we told you the white house business to unveil a new plan to trial to control gun violence in this country. president obama is considering executive action to push through some new gun control proposals that would be very controversial. breaking details on the way. [ male announcer ] there's a story

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